Current Events > Is there a big difference in quality between a UHD blu-ray and 4K digital?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Keep in mind, when answering this question, that I'm stupid.

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Well?

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Yeah a pretty big difference if you know what youre looking at. A 4K stream has less detail than a Blu-Ray disk in theory.

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4K streaming tends to be much more compressed, transferring data at about 10 - 30 Mbps, but 4K blu-rays can do this quicker, up to 100 Mbps, so although the resolution is the same the blu-ray can squeeze a lot more detail into each frame, giving better picture quality.

It's possible streaming will improve and catch up in the future, but don't think Netflix or that are planning this any time soon. It's expensive for them to do and current 4K streams are good enough for most people.

Woodger posted...

4K streaming tends to be much more compressed, transferring data at about 10 - 30 Mbps, but 4K blu-rays can do this quicker, up to 100 Mbps, so although the resolution is the same the blu-ray can squeeze a lot more detail into each frame, giving better picture quality.

It's possible streaming will improve and catch up in the future, but don't think Netflix or that are planning this any time soon. It's expensive for them to do and current 4K streams are good enough for most people.

This is a very helpful answer, thank you.

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i love how netflix increased their pricing for everything saying "4k streaming is hard!"

but then increased the data compression on all their 4k stuff to the point where 1080 stretched out looks better.


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I didnt realize how bad it was until yesterday when I streamed Wonder Woman 84 on 4K from HBO Max. Was watching a few other 4K UHD Blu-ray movies a few days before that so I had a fresh comparison in mind. WW84 had more fuzz to the picture compared to the 4K disc movies, the quality was such a massive difference. Gonna always go for the disc version when possible.

I can't speak for 4k, but I always noticed UHD being really nice.

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DavidZ2844 posted...

I didnt realize how bad it was until yesterday when I streamed Wonder Woman 84 on 4K from HBO Max. Was watching a few other 4K UHD Blu-ray movies a few days before that so I had a fresh comparison in mind. WW84 had more fuzz to the picture compared to the 4K disc movies, the quality was such a massive difference. Gonna always go for the disc version when possible.

On top of that, 4K means jack shit for modern movies that are already filmed digitally or have a fuck ton of CGI on screen and it's even more insignificant in a streaming format due to further compression.

Like there's a huge contrast between watching Alien (1979) in 4K and some overbloated CGI Marvel movie like Black Panther also in 4K. It's kinda like the current RTX fad or HDDVD thing; it's not a big deal at all.

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